Archaeology of Ashdown Forest facts for kids
Ashdown Forest is a really special place for history! It's full of amazing old things from the past. Because the land hasn't been ploughed much, and there aren't many buildings, many ancient sites have survived. You can still see them today.
Over 570 historical sites have been found here. These include burial mounds from the Bronze Age, old forts from the Iron Age, and ancient farm fields. There are also places where people worked with iron from Roman times onwards. You can even find "pillow mounds" where rabbits were raised in the medieval period and later.
The oldest sign of humans in Ashdown Forest is a stone hand axe. It was found near Gills Lap and is thought to be about 50,000 years old! Most of the other finds are from the Mesolithic period (around 11,000 to 7,000 years ago) and more recent times.
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Ancient Discoveries in Ashdown Forest
Stone Age Tools and Life
Sometimes, old stone tools are found in Ashdown Forest. These tools are clues that people lived here a very long time ago, during the Stone Age.
Bronze Age Burial Mounds
From the Bronze Age, you can still see burial mounds. These are called round barrows, and they were used to bury people. They are important historical features that tell us about ancient burial customs.
Iron Age Forts and Settlements
Around 100 BC to AD 43, during the late pre-Roman Iron Age, big changes happened in Sussex. Hillforts, which are fortified settlements on hills, started appearing in the High Weald area. One of these is in Ashdown Forest at Garden Hill. Three other hillforts are nearby: Philpots, Saxonbury, and Dry Hill.
Experts believe these hillforts were built because people were using the iron resources in the Weald more. This was also when people started making pottery in special places. Sites near the Forest, like Chelwood Gate and Horsted Keynes, were perfect for this because of the local clay.
Other Iron Age sites in Ashdown Forest include enclosures at Gills Lap and King's Standing. These were likely protected areas on high hilltops. At Chelwood Gate, a place called Danes Graves shows evidence of iron working from the late pre-Roman Iron Age.
Garden Hill: A Key Historical Site
Garden Hill is a very important historical site in Ashdown Forest. It's located on a hill south of Colemans Hatch Road. This site has both an Iron Age hillfort and remains of a significant Roman-British iron-working center.
In 1972, archaeologists found a small, complete Roman-British bath-house from the 2nd century AD. Later digs showed that people lived on this hilltop even earlier, during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. They also found remains of an Iron Age and Roman-British settlement from the 1st, 2nd, and early 3rd centuries AD.
This settlement included round houses from before the Romans arrived. There was also a rectangular Roman timber villa from the 2nd century, with the bath-house attached. An almost complete pane of Roman window-glass was found here, which is now in the British Museum!
People at Garden Hill both made iron (by roasting and smelting ore) and worked with it (by forging). However, this was probably on a small scale. Later, the industrial areas were replaced by the villa and other non-industrial buildings. This suggests that by the 2nd century, Garden Hill might have become a management center for other iron-working sites nearby. It was probably abandoned by the mid-3rd century.
It's important to know that Garden Hill is inside the Ministry of Defence's Pippingford Park military training area. This means it's not open to the public.
Roman Roads and Ancient Paths
The London to Lewes Roman Road
The London to Lewes Way is one of three Roman roads that connected London to the important iron industry in the Weald. This road crosses Ashdown Forest from north to south. It ran in a straight line from London to Lewes, connecting to other routes that led to farming areas and possibly ports for trading with Roman Gaul.
The main reason for this road was to link London with the farming areas. It also helped to open up Ashdown Forest and nearby iron-producing areas. This allowed iron products to be sent to London and Gaul. Because the iron industry was so important to the Romans, the road was likely built soon after they arrived, perhaps around AD 100 or even earlier.
After crossing the Greensand Ridge, the road runs almost straight for about 11 miles (18 km) southwards. It enters Ashdown Forest near Chuck Hatch and leaves near Duddleswell and Fairwarp. The raised part of the road, called an agger, varies in width. At Camp Hill, it's about 14 feet (4.3 m) wide, and at Five Hundred Acre Wood, it's about 17 feet (5.2 m) wide. It was paved with packed sandstone lumps and iron waste from local ironworks.
Unusually, there are ditches about 62 feet (19 m) apart that run continuously for two miles (3 km) through the forest. Some parts of the road in the Forest were damaged by tanks during training in World War II. However, a clear section of it is marked out at the Roman Road car park.
Other Roman and Ancient Trackways
A smaller Roman road passed through Wych Cross and Colemans Hatch. It joined the main London-Lewes road at Gallypot Street, Hartfield. This road probably helped connect the Roman-British iron-working site at Garden Hill to the main road.
The north-south London-Lewes Roman road replaced an older path. This path ran from Titsey, through the Iron Age hillfort at Dry Hill, and continued south to Westmeston. Across the Weald, many old paths ran generally east-west. These paths followed the high, sandy ridges that were less densely wooded. Some of these, especially in areas where iron was produced, would have been used by the Romans.
Important paths that crossed Ashdown Forest included ridgeways from Crowborough and Nutley. These clearly followed the high ridges of the Forest to Chelwood Gate and Wych Cross. From there, they continued westwards to places like West Hoathly, Selsfield, and Turners Hill.
